The Palatka daily news. (Palatka, Fla.) 1884-1888, 1887-02-16
GHOSTS AND BABIES.
BROOKLYN, Feb. 10, 1887,

/ Nobody believes IN ghosts. Every
body believes IN ghosts. Produce the
person who is not supsrstitious and that
| person would be pronounced non cOmpOs
Dientis by a character expert. do not
believe in ghosts. No, sir. But when
the other evening my attention was
called to a seat in a public horse car
/ where the conductor declared ghost to
be disporting himself. there was a spiral
/ creepiness along the spine, and a dispo-
sition TO run, which did not tally well
with an out an out unbelief. 1t was
about eight o'clock in the evening, when
the cars on the up trips are .apt to be
empty or nearly SO, that l boarded the
cars on the corner of Smith and Fulton
streets. Brooklyn, en- route for my up
town home. There was an old man sit
ting in the rear left hand corner, a wo-
| man and baby by the stove when l en-
tered. At st. Felix street, the latter got
off, and we logged on comfortably with
out taking on any passengers till We
reached Washington avenue. just here.
the conductor, whose face is as familiar
as an old friends, approached me, and
said very earnestly, madame, l want
you to do me a favor. Look, please, by
the side of the stove there, and tell me If
you see any one" why. no." replied,
"there is no one sitting there" Thank
yOu," said he, and was about to turn
when detained him. Tell me about
it," said simply. "Well," said he. Il
see a man there, and would give fifty
dollars if somebody else could see him.
He comes on to my car two or three
times a week, just as he used to do when
he was alive. and he Is always about
two thirds tight. and that is just az he
used to be. He was a splendid fellow,
| barring the drinking, not over thirty
| five, and used to help him on and off
| the car. He was never rough nor
troublesome, and when he'd see me the
next morning he'd thank me kindly.
| There, he is going to get off now, ard
the con. uctor instinctively stepped aside
to let the spOok pass. His hand was on
| the bell. but he restrained himself, and
after moment spent III thought, and
ringing up a couple of fares, he went on.
! 'sHe lived on Bedford avenue, and I'm
always glad when 1 pass that street.
| Well, one night last March, he got on
/ my car IN a worse state than ever, and
| as we had a crowd, | knew | had no bust
ness to let him ride. But he chung on to
the rail, and finally pulled himself up.
For Gods sake said he, don't you
go back on me- / shall never forget
| those words to my dying day.
| "Well, wht n we got to his street, |
was busy collecting fares, and somebody
| told Inc that he fell backward as he was
stepping up the curb. Two weeks after
l read his death in the paper. Since that
he's been on my car time and again"
"Does he ever speak to you:" 1 asked.
"Never, nor look at me-"
'fDid you ever see anything of this
kind before"
"Never. ma'am, and I've been to two
or three doctors to see if | had any thing
the matter with my head, and they
laugh at me. Do you think he lays up
that tall against me. and has made up
his mind to get even!
| NONSENSE" said |.
We'll, then, do you think l am
crazy?'
mo, but l think there are lots of
one of them"
And now my street was reached, and
the interesting interview was closed for
that evening. Who can explain il:
A Wall FROM BABYHOOD.
A troubled young mother asks if it is
| right to pin infants into tight bands. No.
/ Your baby wants all the room it can
have, and none but old fogies insist upon
| their use now.
Another mother complains that her
baby will not sleep evenings. Thst is
because she did not begin early enough
| A nurse can complicate all the months of
/ baby hood by a six weeks training. Pros
pective mothers should inform them
selves more than they do on these SUBJ
| jects, and it would not do any harm for
| unmarried girls to know something about
| such things.
Another mother asks advice about food
| for her infant. lt Is three months old.
and a skeleton. Milk does not do at all
and she is sure it can not live much
longer unless it is nourIshed. Since the
wonderful Improvement of Marian IIar-
| lands little grandchild on soluble food,
\ and it's subsequent Endorsement 10y this
popular writer and lover of humanity, i
have observed its effects upon a couple
| of infants in my own neighbOrhood.
One mother had no milk for her child,
and the natural milk of the other
mother could not be retained upon the
stomach. At last the physician in the
latter case ordered this food as last
experiment, and the child began at once
| to improve. Then the news was carried
| to the other sufferer, and the result was
as marked as in the first instance. The
number of children who die yearly from
| inanition can scarcely be computed.
| Consumption, marasmus. commissions are
! household words, and some cases will
continue to be beyond the reach Of hu-
man skill to cure. But those cases l can
personally vOuch for, and the experiment
is worth trying.
| SOCIETY GOSSIP.
| Marquis De Dueville, who was a year
| or 80 ago advertised so extensively with
Mrs. Frank Leslie, has been heard frorl
again. He is engaged in introducing
| American clam bakes into Great Britain.
Lord Salisbury declines to use that
room at the Treasury since Lord Iddles-
! leigh died there. He is said to have
! always been nervous and superstitious.